May 20 (Bloomberg) -- A potential agreement to move the
National Hockey League’s Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg,
Manitoba, hasn’t been confirmed, said Sam Katz, the Canadian
city’s mayor.

“Right now there is no official announcement,” Katz said
today in an interview. “Until there is, it’s just a lot of
discussion, talk and speculation. I can say everyone here is
feeling extremely positive.”

The Globe and Mail newspaper reported last night, without
saying where it got the information, that Atlanta Spirit LLC has
agreed to sell the Thrashers to True North Sports &
Entertainment and move the team to Winnipeg. True North owns the
MTS Centre, the city’s arena, the newspaper said.

Last night, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in an
interview in Tampa, Florida, before the playoff game between the
Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins, that there is no
agreement to move the team.

“Not true,” Thrashers President Don Waddell said in an e-mail about the Globe & Mail report.

True North spokesman Scott Brown also said in an e-mail
that no deal was done.

Katz said by telephone that hockey fans in the Manitoba
capital have been looking forward to a new NHL team since the
Winnipeg Jets left in 1996 for Phoenix.

“When it comes to passionate and knowledgeable hockey
fans, Winnipeg ranks up there with any other city in North
America,” Katz said.